Mo Lihua (莫莉花), who later wrote under the name Mo Li, was a teacher in Shaoyang, Hunan, who was imprisoned after publicly condemning the June 1989 crackdown. After her release, she left mainland China and received political asylum in Sweden in 1993.
1989 and imprisonment
In May 1989, Mo was teaching in the education program at Shaoyang Normal/Teacher’s College. An account published by the American Federation of Teachers says she accompanied students traveling to Beijing on May 20 and later returned to Shaoyang. On the evening of June 4 and the morning of June 5, she spoke in Shaoyang City People’s Square against the military crackdown and mourned those killed.
A court-file summary reproduced by the Laogai Research Foundation identifies the Shaoyang City Intermediate People’s Court and records a sentence of three years’ imprisonment followed by one year of deprivation of political rights. Amnesty International later described Mo as a former prisoner of conscience who had been imprisoned for three years for supporting the pro-democracy movement.
The precise formal charge has not been confirmed in the accessible court excerpt and is therefore not stated here.
Release and exile
The available chronology places her release around 1992. The American Federation of Teachers account says she was interviewed by a French reporter in October 1992, subsequently fled to Hong Kong after learning that she risked re-arrest, and received political asylum in Sweden in 1993. Amnesty International independently reported in 1996 that she had fled China in 1993 and was active with Amnesty International in Sweden.
Writing and civic work
Independent Chinese PEN Center records list Mo Lihua, under the name Mo Li, among its founding members and identify her as a former board member. A founding-history account by Bei Ling also describes the Sweden-based Mo Li as an essayist. Her status and activities after the period covered by those records have not been established here.
Sources
- American Federation of Teachers, American Educator, Spring 1999, “Ten Years After: Some Unsung Heroes of the Struggle.”
- Amnesty International, EUR 44/66/96, May 8, 1996.
- Laogai Research Foundation, summary of Song Yongyi’s guide to court cases of June 4 protesters, including the Shaoyang court-file account.
- Independent Chinese PEN Center, PEN for Freedom, No. 7, Autumn 2011.
Media Profile & Archive
For the source-by-source media record, see Mo Lihua — Media Profile & Archive.
Current status: not established by the sources reviewed.